Why health screenings are important

Today, nearly 100 percent of women who find breast or cervical cancer early survive it. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women, yet many women have no symptoms until the disease has progressed.

The best way to find cancer and heart disease early is to make sure you get routine health screenings for breast and cervical cancer or heart disease.

Ninety-eight percent of women survive breast cancer when it's found early through regular screenings.

Most breast cancers take years to develop.

Early on, most breast cancers don’t cause any physical symptoms, so without a screening, there’s no way of knowing you have it.

When breast cancer is found early, it doesn’t get a chance to spread to other places.

Eighty percent of breast lumps are not cancer.

Why is finding cervical cancer early so important?

Ninety-two percent of women survive cervical cancer when it’s found early through routine tests.

A Pap test can find abnormal cervical cells years before any cancer actually exists.

Getting a Pap and/or HPV test every three to five years can help you detect and even prevent cancer of the cervix.

Why is finding heart disease early so important?

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women, yet many women have no symptoms until the disease has progressed.

In 2008 for the first time more women than men died from heart disease.

Cardiovascular (heart) disease is preventable, yet it continues to take an enormous toll on women, their families and their communities.

Less than half of people with high blood pressure and only about a third of people with high cholesterol have their conditions under control.

Women can reduce their risk for heart disease-related illness and death by addressing risk factors such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, obesity, inactivity, diabetes and smoking.

There’s no reason to wait. Getting regular health screenings may save your life. Women’s Wellness Connection and WISEWOMAN provide free health screenings to eligible women and can help you on the path to treatment.